The South African OJ?

In case you don’t follow the news, the man we came to know as the Bladerunner during the 2012 Olympics recently shot and killed his girlfriend. He shot her through the bathroom door of his home, claiming he thought she was an intruder.

The only thing working in Pistorious’s favor is the sheer absurdity of his defense… that and his fame, of course.

The family of Reeva Steenkamp must be furious that their daughter’s murderer has been granted bail. I’m all for the whole “guilty til proven innocent thing” but the guy’s guilt is not in question. At best, it’s his judgment that is coming under scrutiny. But one way or another, a beautiful young lady’s life came to an end because of his actions. This would have been no less of a travesty had she been an ugly old lady.

Once can’t help but being reminded of OJ Simpson. Few people seem to doubt that he had a hand in the murder of Nicole Brown. I’m not the only one making the comparison. With Pistorious looking increasingly likely to get off, the similarities seem even stronger than before. Of course there are some obvious points of contrast between the two cases, but none that work in Pistorious’s favor. It really doesn’t matter that he’s the ‘Bladerunner’ – many people believe that wasn’t fair to some of the other runners beside him last summer.

Unless there’s a really good reason for it, it seems Mr Pistorious should be punished for his crime, not out on bail.